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Avondale Estates board debates scope and enforceability of proposed civility pledge
Summary
City staff brought a civility‑pledge draft (based on a GMA template) for elected officials; commissioners discussed defining "city official," whether staff should be covered, and how enforcement would work, then asked staff to circulate a revised version for the next meeting.
City attorney Steven presented a draft civility pledge based on the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) template and said the pledge could be adopted as a resolution to demonstrate a commitment to respectful interactions. Commissioners debated whether the pledge should cover "city officials" generally, the city manager, or be limited to the five board members and whether staff are already covered by separate personnel policies. One commissioner recommended clarifying who is covered at the start of the document to avoid ambiguity.
Several commissioners suggested edits to tailor the template to Avondale Estates and asked staff to circulate a revised version. The city attorney proposed taking version 2, incorporating agreed edits, and circulating it along with version 3 edits for review before the next meeting. Commissioners emphasized that the pledge should not simply be symbolic and asked staff to explain enforceability and linkages to existing personnel policies when the item returns for further consideration.
